This is what OnePlus still needs to solve with its phones | Digital Trends

February 3, 2025February 2, 2025 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If you’re looking to buy one of the best phones right now, you need to consider the latest flagship from OnePlus. Dubbed the OnePlus 13, it launched three weeks ago and after spending more than a month with it, it’s become clear that it’s my favorite Android smartphone.

Yet, there’s a clear problem with the OnePlus 13 and it’s a long-standing problem that OnePlus has never really tried to resolve. Well, that’s not entirely true but internal strife between former co-founders and the complex issue of its relationship with sibling Oppo have made it a challenge for OnePlus to solve this.

What’s the problem? That’s easy: carrier relationships. Most customers in the U.S. buy their phones from their carrier, but despite a brief foray, OnePlus has strayed away from striking carrier partnerships. For the OnePlus 13, this is to its detriment; here’s why carrier partnerships are the final boss frontier that OnePlus must solve.

OnePlus demos a 5G prototype at MWC | TechCrunch

February 26, 2019February 25, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

OnePlus promised us a 5G handset this year. At Mobile World Congress this week, the company kind of, sort of delivered. Unlike the sea of other 5G devices unveiled at the show, however, the company’s offering is still very much in the prototype phase — like, behind protective glass with all of the interesting bits obscured, as it isn’t officially official.

The product appeared at Qualcomm’s booth this week, since OnePlus’ presence at the show has been mostly limited to closed-door events. For the chipmaker, it was an opportunity to show yet again how ubiquitous its tech has become in the vast sea of Android devices.

OnePlus 6T Review: All of the Good Stuff, None of the Bad | Digital Trends

October 30, 2018October 29, 2018 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Like changing the clocks for daylight savings, the biannual OnePlus launch has become so regular that we almost take it for granted. Despite this clockwork-like frequency, we still find ourselves caught up in the hype and excitement — much of it generated by the masterful OnePlus marketing team — and full of anticipation for the new model.

This is the OnePlus 6T, and like previous T models it’s not a giant leap over the product it replaces. Does that mean our anticipation has been quelled? Has the seemingly endless wave of new OnePlus phones become so much that we’re now not all that bothered by a new one? It has to happen at some point, right? Well that day hasn’t come yet. The OnePlus 6T is so good, it doesn’t need the hype